Chunying War

The Chunying War was a brief war in the winter and spring of 136 AG declared by Earth Monarchs Xinli and Destra against the United Republic in response to the latter government's attempt to assassinate Destra. It ended in the Earth Kingdom's annexation of the United Republic via the Treaty of Bei Da Feng when President Yasu died under suspicious circumstances. The war is named after the province of Chunying, in which most of the fighting took place.

Background

The relationship between the Earth Kingdom and United Republic had been somewhat tense for decades, ever since the latter's independence as a result of Earth King Kuei's relinquishment of the Hu Xin provinces, which much of the Earth Kingdom nobility, the Beifongs included, viewed as disgraceful. These tensions grew dramatically when Earth King Betan in his delirium attempted to sign away the entire Earth Kingdom to the United Republic in 120 AG but was thwarted when the House of Enren was called to take control of the Earth Kingdom. After the fall of the Enren dynasty in 132 and the devastation caused by the Tenshio Succession Crisis in 133, the Republic City politician Shinso Tendario acceded to the throne with the support of Northern Water Chief Kutuq. Although Earth King Shinso was successful in reclaiming the province of Senlin from the United Republic, he then surprised the Earth Kingdom nobility by merging with the United Republic, forming the United Empire of Nations, with Shinso as one of three members of a High Council, the other two hailing from Republic City. Many Earth Kingdom citizens found this unacceptable, especially after the other two High Councilmen, Polly and Qipao, imprisoned Shinso for breaking the merge treaty by promising the Sun Warriors ownership of Republic City, which was completed after Sun Chief Azutoru's coercion. The Earth Kingdom, then, was dependent on a weakened foreign Council that cared little to improve their own situation.

As a result of these tensions, the Beifong twins and Zongdus of Gaoling, Destra and Xinli, took matters into their own hands. They targeted and intimidated High Councilman Qipao, attempting to coerce him into appointing them to the Domestic Council of Ba Sing Se. After he refused, they murdered him and sent his head back to High Councilwoman Polly. Shocked by the murder of her colleague, she resigned from her post in favor of the diplomat Yasu Kenshi. High Councilman Yasu, in response to the pressure from the Beifong twins, decided to grant the Earth Kingdom independence and reform the United Republic, dissolving the so-called United Empire of Nations.

Despite this conciliation, the relationship between the two nations remained tense. President Kenshi considered the Beifong monarchs to be tyrannical and a danger to world peace, sentiments he shared with the globally renowned journalist Akira Fudo, editor-in-chief of the Dragonhawk Daily. The two hatched a plan with the rest of their government to invite Earth Queen Destra to a meeting in a forest in Chunying. Destra, believing she could trust Akira, who by this time may have already been her lover, attended the meeting, where Kenshi attempted to poison Destra. Akira handed her a beer laced with a potent poison, but after she realized what had happened, she was able to act quickly and escape. When she returned to safety, she summoned her brother Xinli, and they declared war on the United Republic.

The war

In preparation of the Earth Kingdom's invasion, the Kenshi administration fortified the province of Chunying, particularly a strategically important hill in the center of the province, which eventually became the site of a stronghold. The Earth Kingdom's spies caught wind of a plot to use land mines to decimate the Earth Kingdom's vanguard, and their scouts were able to locate and detonate all the land mines prior to the battle. Seeing the destruction, Kenshi recognized his failure and fled to Republic City, fortifying the city itself and allowing the Earth Kingdom to advance into Chunying, occupying everything from the Bian River to the Rhéng.

Seeing the enemy at the gates, Kenshi sent pleas to the rest of the world for aid but was met with silence. Everyone saw the writing on the wall and had no reason to provide assistance to the moribund republic. To make matters worse for Kenshi, his Vice President Ginshi Yagisen proclaimed her neutrality in this war, abandoning Kenshi for his obvious diplomatic blunders which were to cost them everything. Instead, she cut a deal with the Earth Monarchs: in exchange for this neutrality, she would be appointed Zongdu of Chunying after the war.

Before Republic City even fell, President Yasu Kenshi died suddenly and under suspicious circumstances. It is thought that one of his guards was bribed by the Earth Kingdom to assassinate him. However it happened, the last bastion of the republic had collapsed, and the bridges across the Rhéng were cleared so as to welcome the Earth Kingdom's army into the city. It was in Bei Da Feng up the river that the Earth Monarchs met with then-President Yagisen and signed the Treaty of Bei Da Feng, which ceded the entirety of the United Republic to the Earth Kingdom and named Yagisen as the Zongdu of Chunying.

Aftermath

The Chunying War had a lasting impact on the Earth Kingdom and the territories that belonged to the United Republic. It dissolved the 2nd United Republic which had existed for some thirteen years and would not be reformed until 152 AG sixteen years later. During these sixteen years, Republic City would continue to urbanize under Earth Kingdom leadership, though progress varied.

A significant portion of Chunying was damaged by the failed land mine ploy, which was gradually repaired over the years, primarily by earthbender agents of the Crown.

Zongdu Ginshi Yagisen of Chunying province promised her own repairs and reforms but proved ineffectual, having caught a terminal illness and dying later that year. Her dying wish to grant the Earth Kingdom island of Qiong to the Regent Elder of the Eastern Air Temple Reiko Fujin-Tamae was wholly rejected by the Beifong monarchs, and Chunying went without a Zongdu for many years.

President Kenshi's co-conspirator Akira Fudo was visited and captured by Earth Queen Destra during the occupation of Republic City, and she was taken to the Earth Kingdom Royal Palace in Ba Sing Se where she became the Queen's mistress, though it is unclear whether this was willingly or not.

The war is often cited as one of the Beifong twins' crowning achievements, a full-circle moment that demonstrated the Earth Kingdom's renewed strength.